In the shadows
by zephyr870
Summary: The war is finally over, and everything is supposed to be peaceful, right? Well, not for our heroes. As they all return to Hogwarts, shadows threat to disrupt the balance of life. And Hermione is acting weird...Will they be able to overcome this, or will they crumble to darkness?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else, I wouln't be writing here...**

 **A/N: SO...this is my first fanfic in english, if you notice any mistakes, please be kind and point them out to me so I can improve the story, you see I'm not a native english speaker so I would appreciate your help. This is a little H/Hr fic, I promise to update soon, hope you like it :)**

She was hiding in a corner, crying. No one had noticed that she had left, which made her even sadder, so she cried a little harder. As the sobs wracked her body, she didn't notice the shadow that was slowly aproaching. There was something unnerving about this shadow, the air around it was crisp and cold, so as it got closer and closer to her, she finally realized something was wrong. Alas, it was too late. It engulfed her completely, suffocating her, and just before she lost consciousness, a fleeting thought crossed her mind:

"Harry"

A piercing scream cut through the air. Everyone froze. They had been celebrating their victory, all the pain and suffer they had been through had finally turned into hapiness and joy. They were all exhausted, but that hadn't stopped them from partying. And that's when they heard it. Almost inmediately, a young man shot up from the couch he had been sitting on and got out through the portrait hole. He started runnig through the hallways, screaming her name so loud his voice echoed all around the castle.

He had seen her leaving the common room in a haste, and although he had wanted to run after her, he had refrained. She needed some time alone, she needed some time to cope. She wasn't like everyone else who could just drown their sorrows in alcohol, she needed to organize her thoughts and gather her bearings. And she needed to cry, to let everything out of her system. But as soon as he saw her leave, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He felt that something bad would happen, and he let her go anyway.

He silently scolded himself for not listening to his gut while searching frantically in every single corner. And that's when he heard the second scream, which was even worse than the first. It was more anguished, like the person who emitted it was in pain, a lot of pain. And worse yet, as soon as the sound entered his ears, he recognized the voice. It was _her_ voice.

It came from above, so he went for the stairs. He hadn't gone up two floors, when he heard it again, and again. That awful sound pierced through his skull, straight to his mind. He started running blindly, following his gut and the sound. He then realized the screams where coming from the astronomy tower. That dreadful astronomy tower where his wise role model had died almost two years ago.

When he arrived, everything was pitch black. The moon was covered by some very dark clouds. The wind was chill and made him shiver. And there was that sinking feeling in his stomach again. The screams had stopped when he stepped inside, and now the silence embraced him. He was suddenly overcome by a sense of incredible despair, and when he thought he couldn't bare any more of it, everything changed.

The bitter cold air suddenly turned breezy and light once more, the silence gave way to soft moans coming from the corner across him. But the worst came when the clouds disappeared and the moon rays flooded the room, causing it to light up.

He saw red. Everywhere he looked, there was red. Red staining the walls. Red leaking across the floor. Red covering the sprawled body that was leaning against the corner. He went over and kneeled next to the body. It was her, it was definitely her. Her hair was matted red, trying to imitate her best friend's. Her cloathes were soaked with that thick liquid, running freely across her body until it pooled underneath her.

And he saw red again, but this time it wasn't because of the blood. He could feel his own blood boiling in his veins. How could anyone even dare to attack her? And in the middle of the night, no less. "Those bloody cowards", he thought. Whoever had commited such an atrocity would pay, he would make sure of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or else, I wouln't be writing here**

 **So here's the second chapter, yay! Two chapters in a row, that's a new record for me :) I promise to keep up a nice rythm, unless homework and school and friends get in the way...Anyway, if you have any comment, suggestion, congratulation, flame or such, let me know. R &R**

He sat numbly in a very uncomfortable chair. He had been siting there for some hours, but for him it seemed like it had been ages. He looked at her fragile body, lying under the blinding white sheets. She was asleep, and she looked so peaceful… and then he remembered the terrile events of the night before.

After gazing at her unmoving form crumpled on the floor for a fleeting eternity, he had carried her straight to the infirmary. She had stirred while in his arms, but she was way too weak because of the blood loss to do anything. She couldn't even form a coherent thought. The only thing she was able to say scared him more than he would ever admit.

"Hey…" she managed to say while moaning. "Shhh, it's alright, you're going to be fine", he tried to sooth her, but his words fell into deaf ears.

"Please…take it away…" she pleaded in such a tiny voice that was so uncharacteristic of her. "You'll soon be better, Madame will take all the pain away", he tried to comfort her again.

"Not…that…it's inside, I can feel it…take it away, please…it's inside…"

He didn't understand what she meant, and he didn't get a chance to ask her, because she fainted again. By the time they arrived to the infirmary, he was soaked in that dredful liquid pouring from her veins, and she looked deadly pale while hanging limp from his arms. In his haste, he hadn't noticed they had left a trail of little red drops.

The older woman soon placed her in a bed and started checking for her vitals. She then proceded to make a more detailed swipe, looking for major injuries. While she did her job, he just stood there like a statue, guarding over his friend. After a while, and many healings, the older woman turned to face him, and answered his unasked question.

"She is stable now. She lost a lot of blood, but I gave her blood replenishers, so she should be alright. She's going to be very tired and dizzy, and she will need to rest."

"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey. I was so worried about her, I'm not sure what I woul have done if something bad happened to her…"

"It's understandable. Now, would you care to explain exactly what happened?"

"I'm not sure myself, I have no idea of how she got those horrible wounds. All I know is that I saw her step outside the common room, and then I heard a scream. I don't know how I knew, but it was her. I inmediately got out and looked for her, when I heard more screams. I followed the sound and found her covered in blood, so I brought her here."

"Hmm, that is strange…"

"I know, and very suspicious…Madame Pomfrey, do you think someone attacked her? I mean, on purpose? What if they were trying to kill her? You know, she's quite famous after all…"

"Mr. Potter , I do not think someone attacked her, in fact, I know nobody attacked her, because those deep wounds she had in her arms were self-caused"

"What do you mean self-caused? That can't be posible, she would never hurt anyone, let alone herself. You're not suggesting she cut herself on purpose, do you?"

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Potter , this obviously looks like a suicide attempt."

"But she has so much to do, a whole life in front of her, why would she do this? Besides, she was screaming in pain, like if someone was hurting her, she wouldn't have done that if she was trying to kill herself, now, would she?"

"I don't know, Mr. Potter, I'm just stating the facts"

After that, she had retreated to her office to fill the paperwork, so he was left alone with her sleeping form and his musings. He couldn't believe she had done something so… so… stupid. It was _hermione_ , for crying out loud!

There was something misterious going on, and he was definitely going to find it out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, bla, bla, bla**

 **Here's chapter 3. Gee! I had so much trouble with my Wi-fi! Anyway, enjoy. R &R**

"Harry?"

Listening to her voice startled him out of his reverie. He hadn't even noticed he had fallen asleep, but it didn't really matter, she was awake. He opened his eyes to find her brown orbs staring at him curiously. He inmediately understood her unasked question, but chose to let her voice it anyway.

"What am I doing here?

"Umm… there was an incident last night…"

What do you mean by incident?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well… I'm not sure how to say this, but… you cut yourself last night"

"I did what?" she asked asolutely confused, "That can't be possible, why would I ever do such a thing?"

"I don't know, Hermione, but last night I found you on the astronomy tower, soaking in your own blood…" he couldn't help the shiver that ran through his spine as he recalled that terrifying picture.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry! It must have been horrible to see such a thing!" she hugged him as tight as she could, and he held her with the same strength, not wanting to let go of her. Eventually, they released each other, though none of them wanted to.

"So… you don't remember anything?"

"I remember I was feeling terrible, so I went to the astronomy tower to have some alone time, but after that… there's nothing, just blackness in my mind" she said while staring into space, and then she added as an afterthought "I think the blackness wasn't just in my mind, though".

* * *

As the days went by, the rumour mill spread throughout the castle, and soon, everyone knew about her suicide attempt. It was quite the news, for everyone thought she was a strong woman who could face every single problem in the world, and help her friends while doing it. However, this event made them all see her in a new light, she wasn't the so-perfect-it's-anoying being anymore, she was _human_.

But it also made her seem weak. Apparently, she couldn't resist the pressure the war had left behind, and this made her vulnerable in front of the crowd's eyes. She was openly criticized by students and the general public, while the teachers were trying to find a reason why she had commited such an act.

But nobody knew for certain what had happened, not even her. She still hadn't recovered her memories of that night, so she didn't have any material to defend herself from accusations. The teachers had her see a mind healer, which only fueled everyone's opinion that she had serious issues.

The only real support she had was her best friend, Harry. He didn't believe any of the rumours, he was certain that something else had happened that night (for he was there) and he was determined to figure it all out. He knew she would never even think of killing herself, so he gave her all his support.

Little did they know the worst was yet to come.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the incident, and the rumours were still spreading like wildfire. It was the middle of the night, and for some unknown reason, she had woken up. She suddenly felt the urge to go outside, so she got out of her bed and headed downstairs.

He woke up around midnight. He had the same sinking feeling in the pitch of his stomach that he had had that night when he found her. Deciding in less than a second to follow his gut, he got out of bed, took his map and inmediately searched for her dot. She wasn't in bed, she wasn't even in her dorm. He found her wondering the halls near the exit for the black lake. Without wasting any more time, he went out to find her.

He was practically running down the halls, wanting to find her as soon as possible. The feeling still hadn't left him. The way to the grounds seemed to be awfully long, and the more he tried to hurry, the more time it took him.

When he finally got out, he was shocked by the view that greeted him. It was supposed to be a full moon, so it would have been logical that the grounds were covered by the moon light, however, everything was extremely dark, so much he could barely see his hand. He cast a spell to light up the environment, however, it didn't work, it was still dark. He walked blindly, squinting his eyes to be able to see her. He then saw a blinding white silhouette, and got closer to it.

He stood face to face with her, but it wasn't her. She stared at him straight in the eye, as if seing right through his soul. There was something in her eyes, something dark and wild. She looked…dangerous. This person wasn't her, this person seemed mad.

She finally broke their eye contact, and looked down to her right hand. That's when he noticed she was holding a knife. She started fiddling with it, like it was just a toy. She slowly rised it, and she pointed it at her chest. She locked eyes with him again, and he saw what she was about to do. Breaking out from his trance, he abruptly took the knife from her hands, accidentally cutting her in the process.

That seemed to do the trick, for when she saw the blood leaking from her hand, she seemed to come back to reality. Her eyes wided when she saw her hand, and then they bulged when she saw him in front of her, holding a bloodied knife and pointing it to her.

"Harry…what are you doing?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **Thank you for all the support I have received! Special thanks to those who favorited (I'm not sure if that word exists), followed and reviewed my story. Sorry for not publishing yesterday, it seems like homework got in the way. Anyway, on with the story!**

"Harry…what are you doing?" she asked fearfully. He seemed to notice this and inmediately lowered the knife, however she kept looking at him with this scared glint in her eyes.

Could it possibly be him? Was he the one who had attacked her that night two weeks ago? No, he could have never, _ever,_ done something so cruel and vile as attacking his best friend, he was Harry _bloody_ Potter, for heaven's sake! He was the boy who had a hero-complex, the one who was willing to die for his friends and family, and for the whole world, as unfair as they might be to him. However, he had been there, he was the one who had found her… how could he have possibly gotten there so fast? It did look suspicious… Obviously, she had thought it was only because he was worried about her, but she never really asked him how he found her, she had taken it for granted.

She couldn't help but feel afraid and suspicious, and it was perfectly understandable. She had suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, and one moment later she was on the school grounds, with a deep gash in her hands -which were covered in blood- and in front of her was her best friend, holding a knife against her. A _bloodied_ knife. How was he supposed to feel with all of this, over the moon with joy?

As they stared endlessly at each other, with different thoughts going through their respective minds, they didn't seem to notice that the darkness had suddenly vanished, leaving them vulnerable to the bright moonlight.

As he looked straight into her eyes, he could see her confusion, and comprehension dawned on him.

"This is not what it looks like, 'Mione…" he broke the silence, unsure of what to do.

"Was it you?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion, "Did you do it? D-did you-you…attacked me?"

"Of course I did not! How can you even think about it? I would never hurt you" he said, his ego wounded. She looked unsure at the knife in his hand, and then at the deep gash on her own. He followed her eyes and quickly replied "That was an accident!"

"How so?" she asked. "I want to believe you, but you need to tell me what happened."

"Well… I woke up with this sinking feeling in my stomach, the same one I had the night I found you in the Astronomy tower, so I looked for you in the map, and I found you wondering the halls. I went to find you, and when I did, you were out here. You looked… different, and you had this knife in your hands. You pointed it at your chest, and I took it away from you as fast as I could before you could harm yourself, and I accidentally cut you."

"I did what?" she said incredously "I can't have tried to kill myself again, that's just… No!" she was so confused right then, her mind was in a haze. "I refuse to believe it! I couldn't… I can't… I'm not like that!" her sight started to blur because of the tears that were pooling in there. She was breathing faster, almost gasping for air. She was having a panic attack.

He realized what was happening to her, so he trapped her in a tight embrace, running his hands through her bushy hair in calming motions, shushing her softly, trying to soothe her. When she finally managed to even her breath and relax, she broke free from his embrace. She locked eyes with him again, and he could see all the confusion, all the doubts and all the fears she was holding inside.

"Harry… I'm scared" her voice was so soft he could barely hear it. "I don't know what's happening to me… I _hate_ not knowing"

"We'll figure it out, 'Mione, I promise we will…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **So what do you think of the story so far? Let me now, please. Also, thank you for the great support all of you have shown to my story (I feel popular), and if you also read in spanish, check out my other story :D**

After that night, they both fell into an endless pit of worry and doubts. They had no idea of what was happening to her, and they both feared a repeat of that first night.

Nobody knew of her second attempt of suicide, they hadn't let anyone find out. After they had dealed with the shock of the events, they had gone to the infirmary and convinced Madame Pomfrey that they had dozen off while doing their homework in the common room, and when they woke up, Hermione, being groggy for waking up after having so little sleep, had accidentally cut her hands when she placed them on a very sharp spring that peeked out from under one of the cushioned chairs. Madame Pomfrey didn't seem to believe their story, but it was the middle of the night, and she really wanted to go back to bed, so she quickly healed her and dissmised them without any further questions.

Harry was worried about his best friend's sake, and sanity. Since then, he had noticed how she slowly changed. She seemed to be lost in space a lot, and although it reminded him of Luna, this was different. It was as if she leaved her body behind and wandered off to another place, but while she was gone, she didn't have a faraway expression like he would have expected, instead, her look was determined and grim. It was pretty scary, actually.

Her apperance changed, too. She looked paler and gaunt. There were black circles under her eyes, and her cheeks were practically nonexistent. She was definitely having very little sleep, and from what he heard from her dormmates, when she did, she tossed and turned constantly, and woke up screaming.

She barely ate anything this days. She would just play with her food during meals and eat just a few bites, because she said she felt nauseated if she ate more. It was starting to show, for she looked thinner than ever.

The weirdest thing of all, is that she lost all of her enthusiasm for school. She kept doing her homework and the tasks given at class, but only because it was an obligation. She didn't participate anymore and answered all the questions, she didn't write more information than necessary while doing her homework. She didn't even read for pleausure!

She had become a shell of her old self, and it killed him to see her like that. She wasn't herself anymore, and he wanted to bring her back, but he didn't know how.

He wasn't the only one who noticed this strange behavior. Her closer friends were also very worried for her, all but Ron , who was too busy snogging his new girlfriend to notice if the day was sunny or not. The rest of them agreeded that they needed to help her somehow, and Harry proposed that there was always someone there with her, in case she got into one of those suicide moods. He hadn't told them this obviously, he had covered it by saying they had to coerce her into returning to her old, healthy habits.

Her obvious change had also encouraged the rumours about her. Everyone out of her social circle, even some on the inside, thought that she was extremely depressed about the war. Most of them critizised her for being 'weak', and for not being able to move on. No one had it easy, but seeing someone that was having a worse time than them made them feel better, especially if that someone was a person everybody envied for being strong.

But soon, the day she finally touched bottom arrived.

She suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, again, and felt the sudden urge to go downstairs, again. However, this time Ginny heard her.

"Where are you going, Hermione?" she asked, but the girl ignored her and just left. She decided to follow her, and that it was the worst decision she could have made.

* * *

Harry woke up with a start, thanks to that familiar feel in his stomach. Without wasting anymore time, he grabbed his map and darted out of his dorm. He finally found her dot just after coming out of the portrait hole. She was in a classroom, but there was someone else with her. It was Ginny. Still, that sinking feeling remained, so he hurried all the way down to the classroom, which was near the dungeons.

When he arrived just outside the classroom, he steeled himself for whatever he might find inside. Still, he was shocked when he opened the door, because he never expected what he saw.

In the middle of the classroom's floor, there was a shapeless mass, surrounded by a dark red liquid that he recognized inmediately. Then, a part of the mass slowly rose up, and he could distinguish the shapes more clearly now. Hermione was sitting on top of Ginny, who was sprawled on the floor. Ginny wasn't moving, and Hermione had a knife in her hand. Where did she get all those knives from?

She had a mad look in her eyes, and there was so much blood covering her clothes and features that he wanted to throw up. He was too busy seing red, that he didn't notice that the classroom was flooded with darness, and that no light came into it, despite the windows and the open door.

He gazed straight into her eyes, and couldn't find a trace of her there. She then raised her hand and pointed the knife at her chest, and then proceeded to cut a deep gash into into it, blindly following the line of the scar she had gotten in her fifth year. She moaned in pain, but she never stopped looking at him. It was as if she knew that it killed him to see her being hurt, so she did it on purpose.

And just as she was falling on top of Ginny, he understood that she wasn't herself. She was possessed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **I left you with a cliffhanger, didn't I? Here's the next chapter, enjoy :D**

This was the third time he found himself in the infirmary because of her. Yet, it was the worst. She was lying in the bed on his right, he could hear her soft breath that gave away the fact that she was asleep. On his left side, the other girl was sleeping too. He felt numb, far away from everything, he was in a haze.

He couldn't believe what had happened. It just felt so… surreal, but it was as real as a ton of bricks. He knew she wasn't herself, because she would have never been able to do something like that. She had almost killed a person, a friend, nonetheless! And the look in her eyes, it didn't belong to her, it didn't belong to the girl he had known for almost eight years. It belonged to someone mad, someone evil. It all made so much sense know… He knew this wasn't her controlling her body anymore. Now he could understand what she had meant when she had said it was inside of her that fateful night when it all started.

He had to help her, but how?

Meanwhile, somebody slipped through the infirmary doors. It was the headmistress. Harry hadn't been able to bring the two girls into the infirmary, so he had gotten Madame Pomfrey to help him. She had been shocked, but her medical incstints kicked in and she levitated the ginger girl while he carried his best friend. Madame Pomfrey had inmediately called the headmistress and told her everything about the situation. She had left to make some arrangements, but now she was back, and she wasn't alone. Right behind her were two big and storng men dressed in white robes who looked menacing.

When Harry saw them come in, he stood up as fast as a bolt. He went over to the newcomers and asked, "Professor, what is going on? Who are these people?"

"Mister Potter, this remarcable men come from St. Heathsburg, the best magical institution for mental issues"

"And why are they here?"

She sighed, "They're here to take Miss Granger with them"

"What? You can't do that! She's not mad! She needs our help, we can't just send her away!"

"She needs special treatment, and we do not have what is neccessary for her in the castle. Besides, I'm afraid she has become a threat, not only for herself, but for others too. We cannot afford another incident like this. She must leave."

"NO, YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I WON'T LET YOU! SHE'S MY FRIEND, SHE NEEDS OUR HELP!"

Just as he was starting to move backwards to defend her bed, he felt a sharp pain go through his arm, and as he turned around and looked, he saw Madame Pomfrey carrying an empty syringe. He inmediately felt dizzy, the whole world was spinning around him. His vision blurred and he could only see silhouettes. He couldn't hold himself any longer, so he fell down with a loud thud. Before he lost consciousness, he heard the headmistress say "It's for the best…"

* * *

When he woke, the first thing that came into his mind was her. He then noticed he was lying in one of the infirmary beds.

"Harry, you're awake!" said a high pitched voice coming from his left. It was the ginger girl, Ginny.

"Where's Hermione?"

Her face turned grim at the mention of her name. He then noticed he was lying in the bed she had previously occupied. The pillow still smelled like her vanilla scent, and like blood also.

"So that's the only thing you care about, huh? Her wellbeing?" she said in a bitter voice.

"Listen, I-"

"Don't. I don't want to hear your pety excuses. I know she's the only one you care about. But why, Harry? I mean, that girl is way beyond mad! She tried to kill me, for heaven's sake! And still, you worry more about her than me! You know what? I'm actually glad they took her away, because now you'll be able to step out of the dark and see the light, see the truth"

"Take back your words", he said with a low and dangerous voice, "SHE'S. NOT. MAD. You don't know her as I do. I know she would never do something like that unless she was forced to, so SHUT UP"

"And you're still defending her! You know what I think? I think she was always barking mad, but it came out only recently because she couldn't cope with the loss, she couldn't bare the pressure, so her mental walls fell down and let her crazy side exposed"

"No matter how much rubish comes out of your mouth, I'm not going to listen. She's not mad, and if you don't want to accept it, I don't care. I'm going to find a way to help her"

 _I'm going to bring her back…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **Here's the next chapter. Hope this gives you all the background you need and fills all the gaps, if not, let me now :D BTW, if any of you wondered how he knew she was possessed, it's because he has a sixth sense XD**

For the next couple of weeks, Harry spent every waking hour researching about that suspicious hospital and about possessions. He went to the library every single day, and his friends were starting to worry. Since Ginny was attacked, they had all changed their minds about Hermione. They all thought now she was asolutely crazy and they were thankful she was taken away, they didn't want to be next on her list. They thought he was becoming obsessed, and they were right, but they couldn't understand the situation from his point of view, thay weren't there like he was.

The ginger girl had spread the word about that night, and she had portrayed his best friend as a mad woman with killer incstincts who would take out anyone who stepped on her way. The story had become so popular, it even made it to the newspapers. Everyone was talking about the girl-who-lost-her-way-and-became-a-murderer-in-the-eyes-of-all-even-though-she-hadn' rumours made her look worse than the deatheaters. The articles proposed she was insane, and was probably plotting the world's conquest through sick methods of torture, and if she wasn't kept under control, she could become the next person to bring darkness to the magical world.

Harry thought they were all making stupid predictions, but he could understand that they were scared. The world was just recovering from a war against the darkness, and he had to admit, that one of the most important faces that fought for the light had suddenly lost her mind was very discouraging. If she, one of the bravest and truest persons had tried to kill someone, who was safe anymore?

Meanwhile, from his research he found out many interesting discoveries. About the hospital St. Heathsburg, he learned it was an institution meant especially for mental issues since 1784. Magical families had had members with different mental problems since always, like muggles, but these persons were a disgrace for the families, so since the eighteenth century, several institutions appeared specialized in the care of the mentally injured. Pureblood families saw this as an oppurtunity to get rid of what they were ashamed of, so they sent them to this places. St. Heathsburg became the most popular because they also accepted those people who didn't have any kind of trouble, but their families thought to be a burden, so they give them mental problems. St. Heathsburg was only meant for purebloods, but since halfbloods and muggleborns became important members of the magical community and the pureblood mania was losing it's strenght -also because of the wars- they opened their doors to everyone. However, the magical community wasn't nearly as advanced as the muggle community in that matter, not that they were really making an improvement. They were still using electric treatments and experimental drugs to fight against the illnesses. Their methods were old and didn't work, so he was really worried thay would hurt Hermione and make her condition even worse.

About the possessions aspect, he had to sneak into the restriction section. Yes, he had to sneak, even though he had saved them all, he still wasn't allowed to go in there. Anyway, what he found wasn't very pretty. Possessions ocurred when a spirit took control of a living person's body. There were many ways to possess a person, involving many dark rituals. The spirits that possessed people most often were dead people who didn't want to leave the living's world, but they weren't ghosts. They wanted to be alive again, they refused to die, so they looked for bodies to occupy. They couldn't control things like normal people, but they could change the surroundings and the energy. The process took time. What they usually did to possess somebody was suck their energy to weaken them and being able to break through their natural barriers. Once their barriers were low enough, they could get inside of them and start controling them. The more energy they sucked, the easier it was to possess them. That's why the most common symptoms of being possessed was visible exhaustion. Also, the person could show lack of desire to do anything.

If the spirit wanted to take full control of the body, they had to do something much darker. Unfortunately, he couldn't find out anything about full possession, because none of the books dug deeper into that aspect. It was too dark, so the authors didn't want the readers to learn about it. He was reminded of the time he was researching about horrocruxes, the same thing had happened. He couldn't understand why people with knowledge prefered to keep it hidden, maybe because they thought it was dangerous. But, the truth was, it was far more dangerous the lack of information. He had experienced it personally.

Anyway, his deep research had given him answers, but it had also given him more worries. Now, there was no doubt he had to see her urgently.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **Sorry for making you wait so long, I had a lot of things to do recently, exams, homeworks, events, more homework…Hopefully, I'll return to my publishing rhythm soon**.

He was slowly losing his mind. He was desesperate, he had to see her, he had to help her. But how? Everyone had lost their hopes in her already, she was gone now. As soon as she entered that bloody institution, they had all automatically considered her a lost cause. But he wasn't like everybody else, he had never been, he would never be. He wasn't going to give up that easily, he would fight with everything he had. He hadn't become the saviour of the world by giving up, had he? He just had to find a way.

Of course, she had always been there to help him. She was his rock to support him whenever he needed it. She had never left him, and now he would return the favor. Obviously, it would be more difficult because he didn't have her there to help him, he now had to put that brain of his to work harder than it ever had, just to be able to compensate the lack of Hermione's logic.

Because of this train of thoughts, he found himself heading towards the headmistress's (?) office. When he finally got there, he gave the gargoyle the password, which had been given to the entire school at the beginning of the term in case someone needed to see her. As he climbed up the stairs, he was thinking of how he could convince the headmistress to let him go visit his friend. He finally got to the top and knocked the door. He heard a "Come in" and entered the office.

"Good day, Mister Potter, how can I help you?"

"I want to see her"

"Excuse me?"

"Hermione, I want to see her"

She sighed, "I'm afraid that won't be possible, visits are not allowed in St. Heathsburg"

"But Profesor…"

"Look, I now this is hard for you, Harry" she said in a soft, even a bit motherly voice, "But you have to learn how to cope with it. You were not the only one who lost a friend that day. There are many people who cared about her, including me, but sending her there was the best option we had. She needs help, and we're not able to provide it to her. I know you feel betrayed, but believe me, it was only for the best."

He felt outraged! How could she say she knew how he felt?! How dare she proclaim she cared, when she sent her to the only place where she could get worse?! He could barely hold his anger right now, so, he chose his following response as carefully as he could. After all, he wouldn't get the headmistress's favor if he let his emotions take full control of him and explode into a tirade of how unfair this situation was and how rash were the actions she took.

"With all due respect, Profesor, you have _NO_ idea of what I'm going through, knowing my best friend is in grave danger, and instead of getting help she was sent to the worst madhouse, which she'll never leave. Did you know that the people that go in there only come out dead? That they never get any better? That if they don't have any sort of mental problem, they are given one? Did you?"

"These are just rumours, St. Heathsburg is the best mental institution in the magical world"

"These are _facts_ , stadistics. This is stated in _books_! And while we're here, with you refusing to see the truth, Hermione is locked, getting worse with each passing second"

The headmistress seemed to be pondering about what he had just told her, gazing into nowhere. "Alright" she said after a while, "I'll see what I can do to get you there".

"Good", he turned to leave.

"Oh, and Mister Potter", he turned back to look at her, "I don't care what you have to do, but _help_ her"

 _I will._


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **I know, I know, I've taken way too long… You can't blame me, though! I've been** ** _super_** **busy, and this week will be even worse! I'm sorry, maybe I'll update once this week, maybe until next Saturday, I'm not sure… This story is almost over! Can you believe it? Just a few more chapters (like 2 or 3, depends on my writing mood) and it's done** **J**

McGonagall had managed to convince St. Heathsburg's director without having too much trouble. It certainly helped that the boy-who-lived-and-then-conquered was the one asking for this special request, and that the girl was a recognized war hero. Fallacies didn't take too long to come out of her mouth, and he foolishly fell for it. And don't forget about her autoritary demeanor that made everyone listen to her and do what she said (most of the time). That's why Harry now found himself in her office again, but this time he would go to St. Heathsburg.

He would get there via Santa Claus, that is, through the Flu network. He stepped in the fireplace in her office and felt that telltale spinning sensation. He arrived in a pristine white office, presumably the director's office. He was greeted by an old man dressed in white.

"Welcome, Mister Potter. I'm Mister Keaton, St. Heathsburg's director. It's an honor to have you here, and I'm very sorry for your friend. Visits are not allowed, you see, but we can make an exception for the savior of the world, can't we?" he was a fast and fluent speaker, Harry could barely understand everything he had said.

"Uh, yes, thank you. Now… could I please go see her?"

"Yes, of course. Follow me." He led Harry out of the room and through a series of white halls that looked all the same. He was getting dizzy of all this white. Everywhere he looked, he saw many strong and menacing people dressed in white, both male and female, some of them half-carrying zombie-like patients. It wasn't fare, they were weak and drugged and the "doctors" were bulls! How were they supposed to compete with _that_?

After many turns and similar halls, they finally stopped in front of a door that was guarded by two more of those beasts. The door was white (what a surprise) and the numer 108 was painted in silver.

"Miss Granger resides here, Room 108. So, as accorded you have one hour. Please give me any objects that she can use to harm herself or you, like your watch, your glasses, your wand…" Harry removed everything he had and gave it to one of the bulls, except for his wand.

"Excuse me sir, but I'm not giving you my wand. You see, I need to have it with me all the time. The war has left me a little paranoid, and I don't feel safe unless it's at hands reach."

"Interesting, maybe you could talk about that with one of our specialists? Alright, but you must not pull it out under any circumstances. These two will stay here in case there's any complication. And remember, one hour only." And with that said, he left.

Harry took a deep breath and entered the room. It was grey and cushioned, with no windows. It was rather depressing. And there, in the middle of the cushioned floor, was her. She was kneeled and looking towards the floor, her messy hair being a victim to the force of gravity and coverig her face. She looked like the girl from that movie, The Ring. She was wearing one of those jackets that made your arms reach your back so you couldn't move, and a torn gown. He felt devastated.

As soon as he closed the door, she slowly looked up, and he could see her better. She was as thin as a needle and gaunt. She looked like a corpse, all pale and _dead_. But she wasn't dead… yet. Her eyes had giant black circles around them, and she had a faraway look. Her cheeks were sullen and her lips were dry. She reminded him of… No, that couldn't be, better to stay away from those thoughts.

He was outraged! What had they done to her?! She looked _dead_! Where they even feeding her?

" _Harry, is that you?"_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **Sorry for taking so long! I kind of lost inspiration, but now it's back! We're almost done, just a little bit more… be patient please…**

"Hermione!" he gasped, and then he got closer and kneeled in front of her. He cupped her almost non-existent cheeks and took a closer look. What he saw wasn't of his liking. "What have they done to you?" he asked.

"Well… I… don't… remember much…" she seemed to have trouble to speak. Her words were slurred. "They give me… drugs… tons of 'em"

"Why?" he wondered, it made no sense to him. Why would she need to be dosed?

"To keep me… at bay?" she didn't sound very sure. "Or to keep _her_ at bay… yeah that must be it"

"What do you mean with _keep her at bay_? Who are you talking about?"

"You know… _her_ …"

"I don't know, you need to tell me who she is"

"You _do_ know… you've seen her before… and also after…"

"Hermione, stop speaking in riddles, I'm trying to figure this out and I can't do it if you don't make yourself clear!" he was getting desesperate, but this seemed to annoy her.

"You _do_ know her! She's the one who's inside of me!" she yelled.

And then he remembered what she had told him the first time he had found her: " _It's inside, I can feel it…take it away, please…it's inside…"_

"Hermione, was she the one who made you do all those things? You know, the constant suicide attempts?"

"Yes! She's the one to blame!"

So he was right, his suspicions were true, she was being possessed by a spirit, apparently a female spirit.

"Why did she made you do that?" he asked. Why would she try to kill her if she needed her as a vessel?

"To get inside of me… she needed to enter my veins… take control through my blood…"

"But one time would have been enough to do that, but she tried three times, and suceeded two"

"The first ones were for that… but once she was already there… she needed to take control slowly…"

"And what about the third one?"

"She was going to kill me…"

"That makes no sense at all! Why would she want to kill you, if she is living through you?"

"I need to die so she can live…"

He didn't understand what she meant, but that didn't matter, because suddenly the whole room darkened and was swollen by shadows. He instinctively embraced her, trying to protect her from them. He had no idea that they had come from deep within her. And as soon as they came, they left. He separated from her and held her at arms length while making sure she was fine. He then noticed there where tears treatening to fall from her eyes.

"Harry… take me out of here"

She was right, it was too dangerous for her to stay there. The shadows had found her, she was an easy prey for them now, and the drugs they gave her only weakened her more and made it easier for the spirit to possess her. If he had only know how right he was about that last statement.

"Yes, this place isn't good for you, it's only making it worse"

Then he proceded to take off the jacket, making her able to move her arms again freely. She was absolutely elated about this, so she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as she could.

He pulled out his wand and pointed it right in front of him. He signaled her to stay behind him, and opened the door. The two bullies guarding it turned around to check everything was alright, but they couldn't do it because Harry had already stunned them. Hermione grabed his hand and he led her out of the room. The hospital was a blinding white maze white white bullies that served as guards. Harry didn't remember the way out.

"This way" she said, "we need to get back my wand"

"Where is it?"

"In the lobby, they keep all our stuff there"

"How do you know that?"

"They take us out for walks, and the only way to get to the gardens is through the lobby. I've seen that place, and they keep all our things in little spaces behind the counter."

"Oh, I see. And then what? I don't think the director will let us use his fireplace to scape"

"We'll cross the gardens. That's the only way in"

 _And the only way out…_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **Guess who's back with a new chapter? Me! This chapter is dedicated to "anotherboarduser", who has reviewed every single chapter** **J** **thanks! I feel like you're the only one that's still reading this, because no one else ever reviews… Anyway, on with the story!**

Hermione led Harry through the white maze with incredible stealth. She seemed to know the place by heart, and she had an incredible determination to get out of that hellhole. Luckily, they didn't find too many bully-guards on their way, and they managed to avoid the ones they saw. She was so focused that it was hard to believe that she had been one more of the dazed patients locked there only a few moments ago.

Harry wondered how long had they been out there in the hallways, maybe just a couple of minutes, maybe hours. He was too dizzy and lost to know for sure, and honestly, he didn't care. The only coherent thought that was in his mind was to follow his best friend. He trusted her completely. Even now after she had suffered some weird psycological issues, she knew what to do and acted in a brave and confident way. This girl was unstoppable.

After having walked through enough halls to make a person insane, they finally stopped in a corner. Hermione put a finger to her mouth to let him know they had to be quiet. She mouthed something like "stun the guard", so with a firm grip on his wand, he peeked his head and his wand just a little bit. He saw the side face of one of the white bullies sitting on a chair behind a counter. He carefully casted a stunning spell and knocked him out. He turned to look at his friend and gave her a reassuring nod. They both walked straight to the lobby with a confident stride. She walked to the counter, and jumped over it like it was no big deal, leaving the boy gaping at her. Apparently, she wasn't the fragile girl he had first found in that cushioned room. She quickly scanned the little squares that were marked with the patient's lastnames, but she couldn't find hers. He looked for it too, but there was nothing.

"I think it's not here" he stated the obvious.

"It doesn't matter" she sighed, "we have to go before they find out I'm gone. We'll have to make do without my wand"

"Don't worry, I'll cast spells for the two of us. Just tell me, are there too many guards out there?"

"Well, I'm not sure… I think there are only two guys at the gates, but stay ready anyway"

Taking a deep breath, he took her hand in his, and together they opened the main doors and stepped outside. In front of them they saw a huge area, green and completely open. Hermione had been right, there were only two guards at each side of the gates, and they looked like some tiny dots. They started walking, and as soon as the tiny dots became more visible, Harry stunned them. It was a straight line to the exit, but Harry prefered the white maze. They had no cover here, they were easy targets. Fortunately, the building had no windows.

When they were halfway to the exit, they heard a faraway scream that said "There! Stop them!", so they turned around and saw, in the entrance of the building, the director of the institution accompanied by several bullies. Harry, without turning to the girl, whispered "Run!"

And she did.

She turned around and ran as fast as her legs could toward the gates, without sparing Harry a second look. She was desesperate to get out. Meanwhile, Harry sent all the curses that came into his mind, knocking them all out and succesfully getting rid of the bullies in mere seconds. He was a profesional. The director was astonished and befuddled, but it didn't last long, because Harry stunned him too.

Harry turned around and saw that his friend was already at the gates, trying to open them to no avail. He ran towards her and when he reached her, he took her hand again and made the door explode with a _bombarda._ He could have just opened it, but there was no thrill in that.

There was a path that lead to the institution, and nothing else. It was all empty and dull field. St. Heathsburg was in the middle of nothing. They decided to run a little bit more, so they ran into the unknown as far as they could until the adrenaline wore down. When they finally stopped, he apparated them back to a familiar place.

"The Shrieking Shack?" she asked, looking around and analizing her surroundings.

"It's the first place that came into my mind"

"Harry" she said before she trapped him in a tight embrace "thank you"

As he hugged her back, he never noticed her delicate fingers grabbing his wand from his back pocket, were he had put it after apparating them there. They broke apart after a few moments.

"I couldn't have done that without you" she said with a strange smile that he had never seen before on her face. She had that tell-tale look in her eyes, the same one he had seen during her suicide attempts.

This was bad.

It all happened so fast. He saw how she raised his wand. He saw a flash. And then nothing.

 _Nothing but darkness_


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or else I wouldn't be writing here.**

 **First of all, sorry for that loooong hiatus, school kept me very busy, and then I had writer´s block (kind of), so… yeah. Anyway, I'm back and that's the important thing, right? This is the last chapter (finally), but there will be an epilogue (REALLY?), in which everything will be explained (even the doubts that will surge from this capter), I promise.**

* * *

He had a terrible headache, he felt dizzy and confused. What had happened? Oh right, she had stunned him. Great. He oppened his eyes, but he couldn't see anything. At first he thought he hadn't opened his eyes at all, but then he realized everything was too dark to see. Where was he?

As if on cue to answer his unasked question, a brilliant silver light bathed his surroundings, allowing him to find out where he was. It was the astronomy tower, and the moon was responsible for the sudden ilumination. Apparently, some really black clouds had been covering it and that's why he hadn't been able to see before.

"I see you've finally woken up" said a familiar voice hidden in the shadows "I was starting to think you would never do it"

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" he asked impatiently

"Now, take it easy, we have time" she said in this extremely calm voice "And don't try anything funny, remember I have your wand" she added as an afterthought

"Who are you and why are you doing this to my friend?"

"You really don't know? I thought you would have it figured it out by now. I guess I overestimated you" she said in a teasing voice

"Answer the question" he all but growled

"Don't tell me you don't remember me, after all, I killed Sirius Black" she said the last part in a singsong voice

He was taken aback. How had he not noticed before? The spirit that was trying to possess his best friend was… Bellatrix Lestrange. But how could it be possible?

"Surprised?" she asked mockingly "Well, I guess it's normal, you all thought that I was gone just because you killed me, but I'm not that easy to get rid of"

"But… how?"

"I refused to die, but I didn't want to become a ghost. That would be useless, don't you think? I really wanted, no, _needed_ to come back to life, but since that is impossible, I became a spirit. Spirits aren't alive, but they can possess someone, and that is pretty close to being alive"

"Why do you want to be alive? It's pointless. Your Lord is death, and all his minions are either locked away in Azkaban or hiding like the cowards they are. It's all over. We won."

"Oh, but this isn't over yet, and it won't be until I say so. I made a promise to my Lord, and I'll keep my word. I will _never_ give up, not even death can stop me. I won't be happy until my Lord's wishes become reality, until the world is cleaned from all that scum you call muggles, and their child."

"And why did you choose to possess a _mudblood_ then?"

"But my vessel isn't just any mudblood, is _your_ mudblood, and unless you are very dim, I think you know why I did this. Or should I spell it out for you? I wanted REVENGE"

"So you did all this for me? You shouldn't have bothered" he said with bitter sarcasm

"You think I don't know what you feel for her? It's too obvious, even a _muggle_ can see it. I know where to hit so I can hurt you the most"

And as she said that, the clouds covered the moon again, leaving them in the shadows. He heard some faint footsteps heading towards him, and her now velvethy voice enveloped him with her next words:

"This ends now, and what better place than where we started?"

As sudden as the clouds had appeared, they were gone, and everything became clear again. He was finally able to see her. She was still wearing her white robes from St. Heathsburg, but she looked really mad with his wand in her left hand and a knife in the right one, which he had no idea of where she had gotten it. Why was she so obsessed with knives, anyway?

But there was something wrong, she looked confused. When she looked at him in the eye, she seemed surprised.

"Harry?" she asked with her normal voice.

She was back. Apparently, Bellatrix only showed up when it was dark. He quickly stood up and tried to run towards her. He grabbed her shoulders for reasurance, wheter it was for her or for himself, he wasn't sure.

"Harry, help me. Please, make it stop" she put her hands (wand and knife included) in her head "She's taking control, I c-can't keep her out" their gazes locked, there were tears in her eyes "She's everywhere"

"Don't worry, we'll find a way soon. Right now we need to get out of here" he tried to pull her so they could leave, but she resisted.

"No! You don't get it, I need it now! She'll be back, and she may not leave anymore"

"But Hermione, I don't know how to get rid of her. Look, let's go now and I'll search in the library day and night, there will be an answer, I promise"

"Books don't have all the answers. If there was one there, you would've found it by now, don't you think?"

"Have some faith. There MUST be a way"

"You have no idea of how to fix this. But you're right, there is a way…" she lowered her arms and grabbed his, making him stop holding her. She took his hands and put the knife on them. He inmediately understood what she was trying to tell him.

"Do it. We both know it's the only way"

"No, no,no" he remarked his words by shaking his head from side to side "I WON'T DO IT"

"You have to"

She grabbed his hand that was holding the knife and guided him until the knife stabbed her heart. He watched in horror as blood started pouring out from the wound. She slumped and he caught her in his arms. He lowered them both to the ground and watched life slowly abandon her eyes.

When she released her last breath, he took out the knife that was still in her chest. He hadn't noticed he was crying and mumbling her name. He gently closed her eyes and left her on the floor.

He stood up, knife still in hand. The knife he had used to kill her. He fisted his hair with his other hand while he let his emotions consume him. His best friend, the person he loved the most was dead, and it was all his fault. Not only he had turned her into a target, he had also caused her death. He looked at the red knife, disgusted with himself. He wasn't a killer, or at least hadn't been until mere moments ago. He had killed a person, he had killed the girl he loved. The guilt was overwhelming. He didn't deserve to keep living. He looked at the banister and without giving it any second thought, he went towards it and crossed over it. He spared a last glance to his best friend's corpse and jumped. He had comitted suicide.

He hadn't noticed that the blood pooled around the corpse was slowly going back to were it came out from. It returned to her heart, which started beating again once all the blood had been reabsored and the wound had been healed. But the beating belonged to someone different from the person who had died.

Not once had her earlier words crossed his mind, for everything would have been different if they had: " _I need to die so she can live…"_


	13. Epilogue

I'm standing at the foot of his grave. For everyone, he's just another fallen hero who lost his mind and committed suicide. I don't blame them though, the boy was always too weak for his own good, so it's understandable that they believe their oh-so-called "Savior" couldn't handle the aftermath of the war and went crazy. But I know better. He became a murderer. He killed his best friend, the person he cared about the most, the woman he loved. He couldn't live with the fact that he had killed her, that his hands were stained with her blood, so he did the only thing he could think of: suicide. And it was all thanks to me. My master would be proud, if he was still alive.

It all started when a little desire of revenge was born. When I died, at first I was trapped in between, I was able to see what was happening but I couldn't intervene. And I saw him die, my master, my reason to live. I felt rage take over me, and I swore I would get revenge. But how would I do that, if I was already dead? And that's when it ocurred to me that maybe I could come back. Maybe not quite like before, but there had to be a way. So I clinged to the only thing I had left, the need of taking revenge. I fed it with rage and nurtured it with obssession, making it stronger and stronger, until one day, I finally stopped being a mere observant and became a part of the world again. I had returned!

The problem was, I didn't have a corporeal form. I wasn't even a ghost! (not that it would've helped me, ghosts can't really affect the world in any way) It didn't take me long to figure out I was something much better: a spirit. I remembered learning about spirits from my governess when I was a little girl. It was one of the pieces of knowledge only pureblood families like mine possessed in order to stay above blood traitors and the lower kinds.

If my memory serves me right, spirits are very rare. They are souls that remained attached to the mortal plain, just like ghosts. However, whereas ghosts only refuse to go on to the beyond, choosing a poor imitation of life; spirits have a particularly strong desire to return to life just as it was before they died. One would think that many people would become spirits after they died, but the truth is it ain't easy to achieve. You need to be more than patient and perseverant, you must have unnatural levels of stubborness, it must be the only thing that matters to you. Almost everyone is too weak to become a spirit, they all have feather-like resolves. You must be crazy to be so obssessed with something. Luckily, I have crazyness to spare.

Spirits can also manipulate the energy of their surroundings, even the one that's inside people. Everyone has energy running through their bodies, some more than others, and I could draw energy out of them to strenghten myself. But that wasn't my goal. I needed to get a vessel, I just didn't know how I was going to do that. Then, one day I remembered that my master was always blabing about the powers of blood, how it was the most important, sometimes the only, ingredient needed for most dark rituals. So I decided to give it a try. I would figure it out. The only thing I needed now was to choose a victim -vessel. That was the easiest part, I didn't even have to think twice. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was the perfect choice.

Hermione Granger.

But why would I choose her if she never did anything to bother me, apart from being born? Because of Harry Potter, obviously. That little prat destroyed our plans of getting rid of all those muggles and mudbloods, of giving more power to those who deserve it, the purebloods. He dared to defy us. But most of all, he dared to take my master away from me! How could he?! That's unacceptable. I wanted to make him suffer, to make him feel what I was feeling, and what better way than to take away the one he loved the most?

So I started to stalk her. I followed her everywhere she went and sucked as much energy from her as I could. I think she felt me, and that's why she started putting up a resistance. It took me quite a while, she was stronger than I had thought. Until one fatefull night, while hiding and crying for Merlin knows what in the shadows, she finally let her guard down, and I took the chance and tried to possess her. Surprisingly enough, it worked. I had a vessel! However, she was fighting to gain back control and my hold on her was waning, so I decided to try out the blood hypothesis -if it can be called as such- and cut her wrists. As soon as the blood started pouring out from her veins, I felt her weaken -she was dying. But the more blood came out of her, the more alive I felt. In that moment I knew, she had to die in order for me to live.

Did that mean I could've saved myself all the effort and just go and possess a corpse? Probably, but that wouldn't be as fun and satisfying. Unluckily for me, the Knight in Shining Armor arrived and she got back the control. Once I managed to possess her again, I set up to make her bleed a little more, so I could stay inside for long enough to kill her (or make her kill herself, it's the same result anyway). Nevertheless, Scar-face got in the middle of it, _again_.

My third attempt was intended to kill her for good, now that I could be in control for long enough. But that nosy ginger just had to get in the way. It ain't my fault that she ended up being stabed, she practically asked for it. As fate would have it, Pottery saw me -her- doing it. That little mistake earned us a trip straight to the loony bin. The good thing about being locked in an isolated room, higher than the Everest because of those useless potions/medicines/drugs is that she got even weaker and I got to be in control for most of the time. The bad thing (apart from being locked) is that I couldn't procede with my plan and kill her. After waiting for what seemed to be ages, Potter finally came to save his princess. She took control as soon as she saw him, but she was too dosed to make herself clear. I quickly pulled her back and got straight to the important thing: getting out of that place. He didn't really have a scape plan, but I had formed one almost since the day I got there.

When we succesfully scaped and apparated to the Shrieking Shack, I pulled a stunt to steal his wand away and knock him out. I had to cast a vanishing spell on us, to make us as invisible as possible, and wait for the night to settle so I could drag him through a passage to the castle grounds, and then levitate us to the Astronomy tower, so we could finish were it all started.

While I was waiting for him to wake up, it ocurred to me that he probably already knowed who I was and I could taunt him with this knowledge to further his agony. And then an even better idea came to me. What if I pretended to be his sweet mudblood, and convinced him that the only way to finish this was for him to kill me? Now that would be interesting, and it would definitely destroy him. I decided to prove this new plan, and to my delight, it worked! I must be a great actress (or he's really that stupid), 'cause he actually fell for it! Even better, he couldn't live with the blame and committed suicide!

All that pain, the trauma, the struggle; he deserved it. He absolutely deserved it for murdering my master. And even better, I hit two birds with a shot: I got a vessel and Potter is out of the picture now.

So, how did I explain to the "authorities" what had transcurred?

I blamed it all on Potty. I reinforced their theory that he had lost his marbles by accusing him of trying to murder me. I made out this unrealistic explanation full of inconsistences and loop-wholes that declared that all the stress from the war had taken it's toll on him, until he eventually went crazy and accused me of delaying the end of the war by being an unefficient sidekick, and decided that the world would be a better place without me. And then his first attempt to murder me occurred. Fortunately, he got a moment of clarity and stopped himself before it was too late and took me to the infirmary. Then, he attempted to murder me again, but only managed to cut my hand before I ran away. And finally, he got one last try that was frustrated by that nosy ginger, who ended up being attacked too. And through all of this, I was too scared of him, so I started acting weird. I never told anyone because I was afraid no one would believe me and he would do something horrible if he ever found out I had opened my mouh.

They finally sent me to a madhouse, but he wanted to finish what he had started, so he made a plan to get me out of there. I was too druged to tell anyone that he was trying to kill me, but he didn't want to risk it anyway. So he took me out of there against my will, and took me to the castle, where he killed me and then commited suicide. But he didn't know I didn't really die, that I was alive and finally free to tell everyone what he had done to me.

Of course, I had to perfom several _Obliviates_ and recreate some memories (things my Master also taught me to do) on some students, the nosy ginger, the healer and the headmistress. But it was all worth it. Now, everybody is practically on their knees begging for my forgiveness. They tell me they're sorry for misjudging me, for giving up on me and for not paying enough attention to the signs that I was being hunted down.

It certainly helps that the only one who knows the truth besides me is a corpse.

I allow myself to watch his grave and rejoice in his defeat, which translates into my victory. But this is only the begginig, vengeance was only the first step. I'm planning on making my Master's dreams come true. And dear Merlin, I'll make sure they all stay kneeled before me.

They'll never know what hit them.

* * *

 **So this is the end. The official ending. The finale. Sorry for taking so long. I hope you like it (and that I didn't leave any loose ends). Thanks for reading. I forgot to put the name of the Shrieking Shack (that's embarrasing).**


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